Stone Tiger, Playful Fox
by INMH
Summary: Now here’s a pairing that’ll shock your socks off. Kyuubi-Rao plays around with Gekigami’s statue. Possible one-sided Kyuubi-Rao/Gekigami.


Stone Tiger, Playful Fox

Rating: PG-13/T

Genre: General

Summary: Now _here's_ a pairing that'll shock your socks off. Kyuubi-Rao plays around with Gekigami's statue. Possible one-sided Kyuubi-Rao/Gekigami.

Author's Note: … I don't know. I was pacing, trying to think up of a story no one's done before, and this hit. I wanted to do something with the Brush Gods (Because they get NO love!), and tried to think of the possible storylines for each… Then this hit. I mean, come on: Ninetails HAD to know that Gekigami's statue was there, didn't he… She? I lean towards 'he', but he portrayed Rao for so long I automatically think 'she'. Not to mention, Issun calls her the 'Fox-Wench'… Yeah. I'll call it 'it'.

Disclaimer: I don't own Okami. Clover Studios does. Duh.

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As a villain who hated heroes in the stereotypical fashion, Rao (The Kyuubi had gone so long under the guise of this mortal woman that it had even begun to use her name for itself when alone) couldn't simply ignore the statue of the Tiger God on the balcony of the fortress.

Gekigami was sealed in stone, so there was no worry of attack. Even if he could break free, the powers of the Gods had been so diminished over the years that Rao could have taken him without even using her true power.

She wondered vaguely if Gekigami would be attracted to her guise. After all, Amaterasu's jaw had certainly dropped, and that foolish wolf was female, so Lord only knew what Rao could do to a male God.

Rao pushed her luck one day and strolled idly around the statue of the petrified Thunder God, twirling a traveler's charm on her finger that one of the imps had dropped. Life, however faint, radiated from the statue, apparent to the few powerful, intelligent and careful enough to sense it.

"Evening, Gekigami."

Thunder and lightning crashed on the ethereal clouds in the distance. Logic said that Gekigami had been placed there because of this, and now it was what he spent his days watching.

Maybe he was staring at it, recognizing Rao for what she really was (Which would put him miles ahead of Amaterasu and her little bug friend) and having no desire to acknowledge her presence.

But maybe, with no one realizing that he was indeed a living, albeit prone God and, consequently, leaving him alone, he was focused on Rao simply for the fact that she'd said his name.

Rao paced forward, hips swaying in the way human men always found entrancing. Even the Kyuubi had to admit that, for a human, Rao was rather attractive. Was Gekigami looking? Staring? Maybe the God was a pervert. Maybe, if he was indeed looking, it was one of those 'prison deals'. He hadn't seen anything other than ugly imps and various demons for just over a century, and was taken by the sight of the lovely woman.

"You know, your God-ship," Rao crooned, calmly sitting on the edge of the balcony and neatly folding one leg over the other, allowing her skirt to slid up over her knees in the process. "It occurs to me that I have no idea how you came to be on this island. I don't know how you got into this fortress. Did you know that?"

The eyes of the statue are frozen, locked on the distant storm. 

She supposed this would be the part where he killed her for her flippancy.

"Were you wandering around here on your own when your precious _mother_ passed from this world one hundred years ago at the claws of Orochi? Or perhaps you were on the coast, and the imps brought you on for decorative purposes." She examined her nails idly. "It wouldn't surprise me. Some of these imps are so… _Odd_. I visited the Moon Cave before Amaterasu killed Orochi, and I swear, his head cook was the fruitiest thing I've ever met!"

Rao let out a harsh laugh, so unlike the soft, so unintentionally seductive giggling that the real Rao once uttered. She scanned her tinted eyes over the gigantic tiger, from the tail curled on the string of his massive bow to his regal head, mouth opened slightly in a snarl, revealing sharp teeth. She wondered if they were as dangerous as stone as they were when they were real teeth.

_Of course not. Real teeth would belong to a real tiger, and a real tiger would have killed you by now._

Rao watched the statue for a long moment, wondering if it was capable of any slight movement, capable of communicating any indication of life. But then, if he was, he probably would not show such a sign to her of all beings.

She stood up, slowly making her way to the circle-shaped pedestal that Gekigami's enormous front paws rested on. Then, cool as you please, she climbed onto the pedestal herself and leapt nimbly onto the Tiger-God's back. To a bystander that was totally ignorant of the situation, it would look like some nutcase-woman climbing on a statue, rather than a particularly gutsy and- quite possibly stupid- move.

But then, God or not, he was a statue, so the risk was pretty much nil.

Rao stretched out on his large back, smoothly folding her arms and resting them on the back of his once fuzzy neck. Part of her expected to be bucked off or to hear some noise of protest, a growl or a hiss. A part of her expected that she'd pushed his restraints too far, and that his temper would boil over and bring him back to full life.

Granted, Rao showed no worry, no wariness on her lovely face as she did any of this. Part of her personality was an insufferably confident attitude, and if Gekigami was aware of all that was going on, she would be _damned_ if she was going to show intimidation from a statue, God or not.

"Can you feel me, O God of Thunder?" She purred into his small (By comparison) ear. "Or have all your nerves turned to stone as well?" She ran her nails down the stone lightly, careful not to break or chip them. It's a mock stroking motion, and she was petting him as she would a housecat. If nothing else, that would irritate him. "Can you hear me? Can you smell me? The real me, or only the scent of this human?"

Rao honestly had no idea if she smelled anything like the real Rao. But since Amaterasu was the only one she had to worry about discovering her true identity (Which helped, since Amaterasu had never met the real Rao, and could not detect a different scent), she didn't care.

"How long have you been here, Gekigami? Since the great Amaterasu's death? Surely not before then, or she would have come to rescue you and done away with Oni Island. But then, she was awfully concerned with those pathetic little humans in that pathetic little hamlet, wasn't she? I suppose she forgot all about you and the other Gods. Am I wrong?"

Rao would have liked to think that she could see anger in the tiger's eyes; Denial and righteous fury on behalf of the Great Mother Amaterasu. Ha. Some Goddess, falling so easily prey to a common poison, even if it was Orochi's. Rao supposed the Goddess wasn't as skilled as everyone chose to think.

Rao scratched the space between Gekigami's ears in that same way one might pet a normal cat. It was the type of motion that would make even the most ornery, even the most mean-spirited cat purr like a contented kitten.

"Oh well. I suppose you're better conversation than those insipid imps, aren't you?" She murmured. "Stone or not. Though, if you _can_ hear me, I suppose you're rather angry with me by now, aren't you?" She slid up a little further, so her ample chest was resting on top of Gekigami's head and she could tilt her own to look into his eyes. Rao smirked with all the audacity she could.

"Do you like this form? I have to admit, I chose this woman because she was as close to Queen Himiko as I could get, but she does have other uses as well." She pressed forward pointedly, her chest pressing even harder against Gekigami's cold, stone skull. "It's quite easy to manipulate human men when all they can look at is my chest!" She gave quite the evil little giggle.

"I don't suppose you'd know. Gigantic white tigers are a much more uncommon sight in this world than white wolves, monkeys and rabbits. Humans look down on species that constantly rip apart loved ones." She twirled her finger between his eyes. "Unless you can make yourself look like a human, like I can."

Rao smirked. "After all these years, I bet you'd be a pretty tame kitty, wouldn't you? So few people have faith in the Gods anymore…"

_CRKICK-ABOOM!_

She looked to the sky, eying the thunder and lightning, which seemed to have intensified in a split moment.

Oh yeah. He could hear every word she said.

"Well," Rao planted a soft, chaste kiss on his formally furry brow. "Maybe I'll have to wake you up once I've disposed of Amaterasu and Himiko. I've always wanted a pet."


End file.
